Roofing-tile.



W. P. BECK. noonme me. APPLiCATION FILED AUG- 1. I911.

Patented Feb. 5, 1918.

Z SHEETS-SHE I W. P. BECK.

ROOFING TILE.

APPLiCATlON men AUG. 1. 1917.

2 SHEETSSHET 2.

.PBECK.

entrain erafrne PATENT WILLIAM P. BECK, 0F BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF To A. o.

- BURNS, or BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

ROOFING-TILE.

aasaaeo.

Specification of Letters Patent.

atented T eloo 5, Wild Application filed August 1, 1917. Sam No. 183,947.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that LNVILLIAM P. BECK, a citizen of the UnitedStatesof America, residing at Birmingham, in the county of Jetferson and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roofing-Tiles, of which the following is a.

specification.

My invention relates to a roofing tile which is preferably madeof cement suitably reinforced so that it will form a lillln;

and comparatively light roofing, but it will be understood that the tile: may be made of;

clay orany other suitable material.

The object of my invention is to design a;

tile with interlockinglside flanges which will have. a pleasing, ornamental appearance and without interfering withthe close and-accurate fitting of the overlapping portions forming the tiles elsewhere. It ismy purpose especially to avoid the cutting away of corner edges of the tiles to reduce the number of thicknesses of the lapping side edges,

this necessarily shortens the length of the side joint under the top lap joint. Any use of a butt-joint at the corner makes it more probable that leakage will occur when subit of the tiles but gives the roof a more pleasjectecl to severe blowing rains. I

According to my invention, the tile, in plan view, has the form of a parallelogram, the sides of which are set at an angle to the. ends, the maximum departure from a rec.

tangular corner construction being substantially equalto the thlckness 1n a horizontal plane of a side lap lock flange of the tile, The tile along one side edge is provided:

with a raised portion extending from end to end of the tile and tapering gradually from base to top ofthe tile, this raised pore tion having its outer inclined. side edge madeone-half the thickness of its inner oppoance of the roof may sitely inclined side edge and adapted to form the outer lap and lock flange for the side joint of the tiles. The other side edge of the tile carries an upturned lap lock flange of the same thickness as the down turned flange and parallel therewith. The upturned flange of one tile is the full length and width of the clown- I turned flange of the adjacent tile, the thick ness of the two lapped flanges being equal to the thickness of the side of the raised portion of the tile opposite them. sign all engaging surfaces of the tiles lie in parallel planes, it being understood that a riser strip. equal to the thickness of the tile is laid, along the cave of the roof so as to set the lowermost row of tiles at an angle to the roof which will bring their upper surfaces into parallelism with the corresponding under surfaces of the overlapping rows of tiles above it. lhisarrangement avoids an open bottom joint between the tiles, it being essential that this joint shall be a tightly closed one to prevent the tendency of blowing rains l to work up between the bottom lap joints of the tile. If desired the ornamental appearbe increased by providing it with an intermediate raised portion which tapers symmetrically in conformity with the raised portion at one side and has the same cross-section as the side raised portion except that both of its reversely inclined side edges are of equal width and thickness. This intermediate raised portion has no effect on theinterlock ing appearance with its narrow downwardly tapering gutters formed between the up wardly tapering raised portions. The taper .of the raised portions of the tile is calcuhas been lapped the predetermined distance to form the bottom lap joint.

My invention will be more clearly underadapted to lap By my destood by reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate its preferred embodiment, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an intermediate section of the roof with the tile in assembled position thereon.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views taken on the lines 3-3 and 44, respectively, of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of one of the tiles with dotted lines projected to indicate the departure of the tile from true rectangularity.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a modification in the shape of the tiles but no change in the side and bottom lap joints produced.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

7 Iteferring first to Fig. 5 for a description 1 of the individual tiles, it will be seen that the latter, in plan, is in the shape of a parallelogram having bottom and top edges 1 and '2 joined by parallel side edges which are inclined from side lines perpendicular to the edges 1 and 2 so as to'produce a maximum departure therefrom of the distance X-Y at opposite corners, which distance is equal tothe width in a horizontal plane of the side flange of the tile, as will be seen by the distance XY projected by dotted lines on Fig. 4. Th main body portion 3 of the tile lies in what may be termed the lower plane of the tile and along its right hand side edge is provided the upturned lap and lock flange 1 which is inclined at an angle of to the lower plane of the tile and is of less thickness than the body portion 3 of the tile. The top edge of the flange lies in a plane parallel with said lower plane of the tile. Along its left hand side edge the tile is provided with a raised portion formed by an inner side wall 5, a horizontal top wall 6 and a clown-turned outer side wall forming the side lap lock flange 7. The flanges 4 and 7 are of equal dimensions throughout and lie in parallel planes, one being upturned and the other down-turned. The upper side face of 4 and the under side face of 7, and the under side face of 4- and the .upper side face of 7, are respectively of equal dimensions and parallel. The flanges & and 7, when lapped, as shown more clearly in Fig. 3, form jointly a side wall for the raised portion that I is the counterpart of the integral side wall 5. The width of the flanges L and 7 is such that their edges will respectively abut the underface of portion 6 and the upper face of the portion 3 of adjacent tiles, thus providing a close fitting side joint, the opposing surfaces of which abut throughout the full length of the tile. The top and bottom faces of the portions 6 of the tiles lie in planes parallel with the main body portion 3 of the tile and portions 3 and 6 are equal in thickness but the wall 5 of the tile is made thicker than either 3 or 6 in order that the flanges 4 and 7 may have suilicient thickness to make them strong and durable to withstand shipment and handling. The parts 4, 5 and 7 do not vary in any dimension from bottom to top of the tile but it will be noted that the parts 5 and 7 are inclined toward each other at corresponding angles to the base of the tile so as to cause the part 6 to taper symmetrically toward the top edge 2 of the tile.

If desired to increase the ornamental appearance of the tile,the body portion 3 thereof may be interrupted by an intermediate raised tapered portion comprising sides 5 and 5 and a top portion 6. The side 5 cor-- responds to and lies parallel with the side 5 already described, and the side 5 lies parallel with the side 7 but corresponds in every dimension with the flanges 5 and 5*. top portion 6 is identical in shape with the marginal top portion 6 already described. Suitable apertures 8 are provided in the body portion 3 of the tile for the reception of fastening nails 9 which secure the tile to the roof 10. Along the caves of the roof I attach a riser strip 11 (see Fig. 2) of such thickness as to set the bottom end 1 of the lowermost row of tiles at an angle to the face of the roof which will cause it to lie in a plane parallel with the plane of the lapping rows of tiles above it, as will be seen more clearly in Fig. 2. lVithout this riser strip an open joint would be left between the lower end 1 of each tile and theupper face of the tile underlying it, but with its use the lapping surfaces of the tiles are brought into parallelism and give exceedingly close, tight and water-proof lap joints for the tile. If desired, as shown in Fig. 6, the intermediate raised portion of the tile may be omitted.

The tapering character of the raised por tions of the tiles is calculated to give a wedge interlock when the tiles have lapped sufficiently at their bottom joints to protect against leakage. This will be more clearly seen in Fig. 1, where it will be at once apparent that the upper tile shown cannot slip down farther on the tile beneath it without being raised and its own weight and the weight of the superposed tiles above it will hold it down. The wedge interlock will thus hold each tile against slipping length wise downwardly should its nail fastenings give.

In Fig. 4: I have taken a vertical crosssection across the corner joints of the tiles where four thicknesses of tile flanges occur.

The

teamed It will be at once apparentthatuthe four only to thetwo thic'kne'sses of the walls 5, due to the fact that eachpair offla nges 4- and 7 is equal to one'wallbl I By this means I hold the tiles to a snug lapping fit and by inclining the side walls of the tile to.p1o

vide the offset distance XY I .make pro vision for the lapping and interlocking at the corner joints without it being necessary to cut a'wayany portions of the tile and without the presence of any butt-joints. When the tiles have been laid with the flanges 7 lapped and interlocked with the flanges 4 and with the raised portion or portions of each tile forming a lap and wedge interlock with the corresponding raised portion of the tile under it, I havea roof'with continuous and uninterrupted lap and lock joints throughout and it will at once be apparent that the tile is itself of extremely simple construction, possessing no delicate parts and that it can be easily and quickly laid and cheaply manufactured.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A roofing tile which in plan is a parallelogram with alternate reversely tapering longitudinally raised and depressed portions, the under surface of each raised portion being adapted to make a wedge fit over the upper surface of theraised portion of an underlying tile when said tiles have a predetermined end lap joint, and reversely disposed parallel side flanges each extending the full length of the tile and together equaling in thickness the side wall of the raised portion lying opposite to them.

2. A roofing tile which in plan is a parallelogram with alternate reversely tapering longitudinally raised and depressed portions, the under surface of each raised portion being adapted to make a wedge fit over the upper surface of the raised portion of an underlying tile when said tiles have a predetermined end lap joint, and reversely disposed parallel side flanges each extending the full length of the tile and together equaling in thickness the side wall of the raised portion lying opposite to them, the sides of the parallelogram being disposed at an angle to the parallel long axes of said tapering portions that will give a maximum departure equal to the thickness of one of said side flanges.

3. In a roofing tile, a main body portion having parallel top and bottom end edges, one upturned flange along one side edge, a raised portion having one down-turned flange along the other edge, said flanges being similar and parallel and at an angle to a perpendicular line between the top' and bottom edges of the tile, an upturned and l 1 q I H a down-turned flange of two adjacent tiles thicknesses ,of flanges Lin] effect correspond being adapted to form aside lap and lock of said raised porti'onof thetile. j p

4. In. a roofing. tile, amain body portion having parallel top and bottom end edges,

one upturned fiangexalong one side edge, a

tapering raised portion having one down turned flange along the other edge, said flanges being similar and parallel and at an angle to a perpendicular line between the top and bottom edges of the tile, an upturned and a downturned flange of two adjacent tiles being adapted to form a side lap and lock joint, the two lapped flanges corresponding in height and thickness to the opposed parallel lap lock flanges disposed at an incline along each side edge, and a wall reversely inclined to the flanges and equal to their combined thickness which joins the two levels of said body.

6. In a roofing tile, a body having straight parallel sides, the body being deformed to produce a raised portion along one side edge which tapers symmetrically toward the upper end of the tile and comprises reversely sloping side walls of unvarying size lengthwise of the tile, the outer of which walls forms the down-turned side lock flange of the tile, which flange is half the thickness of the side wall opposite it and terminates with its bottom edge in the top surface plane of the tile body, and an upturned side lock flange along the other side edge of the body which corresponds in shape to the downturned flange and lies in a parallel plane therewith with its upper end parallel with the under face of the raised portion with which it is adapted to abut.

7. A tile comprising a flat body portion having a deformed portion to form a raised tapering top face 6 connected to the body by reversely inclined side walls 5 and 7, a side locking flange 4 parallel with the wall 7 and on the opposite side of face 6 therefrom, said flange being disposed at an angle to the long axis of the tapering face 6, the flange 4 on one tile being adapted to underlie the wall 7 of an adjacent tile, and their combined thickness being equal to that of the wall 5.

8. A roofing tile having the shape of a non-rectangular parallelogram and composed of alternating flat and sloping portions, relatively disposed to form a plurality of flat tapering portions lying alternately in upper and lower trapezoids, one raised flat portion having an outwardly and downwardly sloping lock and lap flange forming j j oint,, the twolapped flanges corresponding 1 in height and thickness tothe opposite side one side edge of the tile and a depressed flat portion having annpturned outwardly sloping lock and lap flange forming the otherside edge of the tile, said flanges and inclined portions being of constant size lengthwise of the tile While the flat portions are allof equal thickness but of constantly varying idth, the two side flanges when lapped and locked having a, cross-section corresponding to the cross-section of an in- 10 clined portion of the tile.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM P. BECK. Witness:

NOMIE TELSH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 7 Washington, D. C. 

